The proposed candidates are executive directors Anup Saha and Paritosh Kashyap, according to the report citing sources. The succession process at India’s fourth-biggest private bank comes ahead of Vaswani’s scheduled term-end on December 31, 2026. No final appointment has been stated.

Saha oversees retail banking, covering individual customers and smaller loans. He moved to Kotak earlier this year from Bajaj Finance. Kashyap, who has spent many years at Kotak, heads wholesale banking, serving large companies and institutional clients. Their current responsibilities span two distinct sides of the lender’s business.

Vaswani arrived in January 2024 after a career that included Barclays and Citigroup. He succeeded founder Uday Kotak, who had headed the bank for more than two decades and continues to own a 26% stake. Unlike Vaswani’s appointment from outside, the reported shortlist draws entirely from the existing leadership team.

Under RBI requirements, a bank must put forward a minimum of two CEO candidates. The regulator assesses their suitability and may approve a name or seek alternatives. During Vaswani’s tenure, Kotak set its sights on ranking third among Indian private banks by profit after tax, a growth ambition that forms part of the succession backdrop.